The Bedlam Stacks

An astonishing historical novel set in the shadowy, magical forests of South America, which draws on the captivating world of the international best seller The Watchmaker of Filigree Street. Deep in uncharted Peru, the holy town of Bedlam stands at the edge of a forest. The shrine statues move, and anyone who crosses the border dies. But somewhere inside are cinchona trees, whose bark yields quinine: the only known treatment for malaria. On the other side of the Pacific, it is 1859, and India is ravaged by the disease.

Strange Magic

Rosie Strange doesn't believe in ghosts or witches or magic. It's no surprise therefore that when she inherits the ramshackle Essex Witch Museum, her first thought is to take the money and run. Still, the museum exerts a curious pull over Rosie. There's the eccentric academic who bustles in to demand she help in a hunt for the bones of the notorious Ursula Cadence, a witch long since put to death. And there's curator Sam Stone, a man about whom Rosie can't decide if he's tiresomely annoying or extremely captivating.

The Outcasts of Time

December 1348: With the country in the grip of the Black Death, brothers John and William fear that they will shortly die and go to Hell. But as the end draws near, they are given an unexpected choice: either to go home and spend their last six days in their familiar world or to search for salvation across the forthcoming centuries - living each one of their remaining days 99 years after the last. John and William choose the future and find themselves in 1447, ignorant of almost everything going on....

The Golem and the Djinni

Chava is a golem, a creature made of clay, brought to life by a disgraced rabbi who dabbles in dark Kabbalistic magic. When her master, the husband who commissioned her, dies at sea on the voyage from Poland, she is unmoored and adrift as the ship arrives in New York in 1899. Ahmad is a djinni, a being of fire, born in the ancient Syrian desert. Trapped in an old copper flask by a Bedouin wizard centuries ago, he is released accidentally by a tinsmith in a Lower Manhattan shop. Though he is no longer imprisoned, Ahmad is not entirely free - an unbreakable band of iron binds him to the physical world.

White Silence: Elizabeth Cage, Book 1

Elizabeth Cage is a child when she discovers that there are things in this world that only she can see. But she doesn't want to see them, and she definitely doesn't want them to see her. What is a curse to Elizabeth is a gift to others - a very valuable gift they want to control. When her husband dies, Elizabeth's world descends into a nightmare. But as she tries to piece her life back together, she discovers that not everything is as it seems.

The Keeper of Lost Things

Once a celebrated author of short stories now in his twilight years, Anthony Peardew has spent half his life lovingly collecting lost objects, trying to atone for a promise broken many years before. Realising he is running out of time, he leaves his house and all its lost treasures to his assistant, Laura, the one person he can trust to fulfil his legacy and reunite the thousands of objects with their rightful owners.

Beside Myself

Six-year-old Helen and Ellie are identical twins, but Helen is smarter, more popular, and their mother's favorite. Ellie, on the other hand, requires special instruction at school, is friendless, and is punished at every turn. Until they decide to swap places - just for fun, and just for one day - and Ellie refuses to switch back. Everything of Helen's, from her toys to her friends to her identity, now belongs to her sister.

Rotherweird

Rotherweird is a twisted, arcane murder-mystery with shades of Deborah Harkness, Hope Mirrlees and Ben Aaronovitch, Mervyn Peake and Edward Gorey at their disturbing best. The town of Rotherweird stands alone - there are no guidebooks, despite the fascinating and diverse architectural styles cramming the narrow streets, the avant-garde science and offbeat customs. Cast adrift from the rest of England by Elizabeth I, Rotherweird's independence is subject to one disturbing condition: nobody, but nobody, studies the town or its history.

The Gospel of Loki

With his notorious reputation for trickery and deception, and an ability to cause as many problems as he solves, Loki is a Norse god like no other. Demon-born, he is viewed with deepest suspicion by his fellow gods who will never accept him as one of their own and for this he vows to take his revenge. But while Loki is planning the downfall of Asgard and the humiliation of his tormentors, greater powers are conspiring against the gods and a battle is brewing that will change the fate of the Worlds.

The Oversight

Only five still guard the borders between the worlds. Only five hold back what waits on the other side. Once the Oversight, the secret society that polices the lines between the mundane and the magic, counted hundreds of brave souls among its members. Now their number can be tallied on a single hand. When a drunkard brings a screaming girl to the Oversight's London headquarters, it seems their hopes for a new recruit will be fulfilled - but the girl is a trap, her appearance a puzzle the five remaining guardians must solve or lose each other, and their society, for good.

The Children Act

Fiona Maye is a leading High Court judge, presiding over cases in the family court. She is renowned for her fierce intelligence, exactitude and sensitivity. But her professional success belies private sorrow and domestic strife. There is the lingering regret of her childlessness, and now her marriage of 30 years is in crisis. At the same time, she is called on to try an urgent case: for religious reasons, a beautiful 17-year-old boy, Adam, is refusing the medical treatment that could save his life, and his devout parents share his wishes. Time is running out.

How to Stop Time

Tom Hazard has a dangerous secret. He may look like an ordinary 41-year-old, but owing to a rare condition, he's been alive for centuries. From Elizabethan England to jazz age Paris, from New York to the South Seas, Tom has seen a lot and now craves an ordinary life. Always changing his identity to stay alive, Tom has the perfect cover - working as a history teacher at a London comprehensive. Here he can teach the kids about wars and witch hunts as if he'd never witnessed them firsthand.

Dark Dawn Over Steep House: Gower Street Detective, Book 5

London, 1884. Sidney Grice is restless, having filed his latest case under S, for 'still to be solved', to await further inspiration. His ward, March Middleton, remains determined to uncover the truth. Geraldine Hockaday was outraged on the murky streets of Limehouse. Yet her attacker is still on the loose. But then a chance encounter brings a new victim to light, and it seems clear March and Grice are on the trail of a serial offender.

Kafka on the Shore

Kafka on the Shore follows the fortunes of two remarkable characters. Kafka Tamura runs away from home at 15, under the shadow of his father's dark prophesy. The aging Nakata, tracker of lost cats, who never recovered from a bizarre childhood affliction, finds his pleasantly simplified life suddenly turned upside down.

The Luminaries

It is 1866 and Walter Moody has come to make his fortune upon the New Zealand goldfields. On arrival, he stumbles across a tense gathering of 12 local men, who have met in secret to discuss a series of unsolved crimes. A wealthy man has vanished, a whore has tried to end her life, and an enormous fortune has been discovered in the home of a luckless drunk. Moody is soon drawn into the mystery: a network of fates and fortunes that is as complex and exquisitely patterned as the night sky.

The Invisible Library

Irene is a professional spy for the mysterious Library, which harvests fiction from different realities. And along with her enigmatic assistant, Kai, she's posted to an alternative London. Their mission: to retrieve a dangerous book. But when they arrive, it's already been stolen. London's underground factions seem prepared to fight to the very death to find her book.

Rivers of London: PC Peter Grant, Book 1

My name is Peter Grant and until January I was just probationary constable in that mighty army for justice known to all right-thinking people as the Metropolitan Police Service (as the Filth to everybody else). My only concerns in life were how to avoid a transfer to the Case Progression Unit--we do paperwork so real coppers don't have to--and finding a way to climb into the panties of the outrageously perky WPC Leslie May.

The Nothing Girl: The Frogmorton Farm Series, Book 1

Getting a life isn't always easy. And hanging on to it is even harder.... Jodi Taylor brings all her comic writing skills to this heartwarming tale of self-discovery. Known as The Nothing Girl because of her severe stutter and chronically low self-confidence, Jenny Dove is only just prevented from ending it all by the sudden appearance of Thomas, a mystical golden horse only she can see. Under his guidance Jenny unexpectedly acquires a husband - the charming and chaotic Russell Checkland.

The Watchmaker's Daughter: Glass and Steele, Book 1

India Steele is desperate. Her father is dead, her fiancé took her inheritance, and no one will employ her, despite years working for her watchmaker father. Indeed, the other London watchmakers seem frightened of her. Alone, poor, and at the end of her tether, India takes employment with the only person who'll accept her - an enigmatic and mysterious man from America, a man who possesses a strange watch that rejuvenates him when he's ill.

Florence Grace

Florrie Buckley is an orphan living on the wind-blasted moors of Cornwall. It's a hard existence, but Florrie is content; she runs wild in the mysterious landscape. She thinks her destiny is set in stone. But when Florrie is 14, she inherits a never-imagined secret. She is related to a wealthy and notorious London family: the Graces.

Barking

Monsters are roaming the streets of London. Of course, some monsters are scarier than others: Unicorns? No bother. Vampires? Big deal. Werewolves? Ho hum. Lawyers? … Aaargh! Duncan's boss doesn't think that he's cut out to be a lawyer. He isn’t a pack animal. He lacks the killer instinct. But when his best friend from school barges his way back into Duncan’s life, with a full supporting cast of lawyers, ex-wives, zombies and snow-white unicorns, it’s not long before things become distinctly unsettling.

The Legacy

In the bitter winter of 2009, following the death of their grandmother, Erica Calcott and her sister Beth return to Storton Manor, a grand and imposing Wiltshire house where they spent their summer holidays as children. When Erica begins to sort through her grandmother's belongings, she is flooded with memories of her childhood - and of her cousin, Henry, whose disappearance from the manor tore the family apart. Erica sets out to discover what happened to Henry.

The Strings of Murder

Penguin presents the unabridged,downloadable audiobook edition of The Strings of Murder by Oscar de Muriel, read by Andy Secombe, including musical interludes recorded by the author himself. Edinburgh, 1888. A virtuoso violinist is brutally killed in his home. But with no way in or out of the locked practice room, the murder makes no sense. Fearing a national panic over a copycat Ripper, Scotland Yard sends Inspector Ian Frey to investigate under the cover of a fake department specializing in the occult.

Strange the Dreamer

The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around - and Lazlo Strange, war orphan and junior librarian, has always feared that his dream chose poorly. Since he was five years old he's been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself in the person of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, and he has to seize his chance or lose his dream forever.

Publisher's Summary

It's 1883. Thaniel Steepleton returns home to his tiny London apartment to find a gold pocket watch on his pillow. Six months later the mysterious timepiece saves his life, drawing him away from a blast that destroys Scotland Yard. At last he goes in search of its maker, Keita Mori, a kind, lonely immigrant from Japan. Although Mori seems harmless, a chain of unexplainable events soon suggests he must be hiding something. When Grace Carrow, an Oxford physicist, unwittingly interferes, Thaniel is torn between opposing loyalties.

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street is a sweeping, atmospheric narrative that takes the listener on an unexpected journey through Victorian London, Japan as its civil war crumbles longstanding traditions, and beyond. Blending historical events with dazzling flights of fancy, it opens doors to a strange and magical past.

What the Critics Say

"Electrifying... a triumph of speculative fiction. It captures the frenetic energy of a world undergoing extraordinary changes... Pulley expertly employs the tools of mystery and fantasy to examine the social pressures faced by the marginalized... The heart of the story is the universal human quest for acceptance, understanding, and love." (Publishers Weekly)

What a lovely gentle book. Not my usual kind of book so the author and narrator were new to me. However I will definitely look out for them again! The characters were well drawn and engaging. The narrator voiced them all beautifully and the story was fairy tail perfect.

It did take me a few chapters to get into it but ultimately I'm glad I persevered. It's good to see other cultures included in a fantasy novel particularly one set in London. The characters turn out to be quite unlike any I've encountered before and if you are able to predict the story arc then you clearly have special powers!

I don't like things too steampunky but this was fine - no airships. Huzzah!

I like Thomas Judd's narration. His range of accents is good and he has a gentle but expressive reading style although a few mispronunciations jarred a bit (I'm ludicrously sensitive and it's really only about 5 words in total)

What made the experience of listening to The Watchmaker of Filigree Street the most enjoyable?

The story is very good, but flags in places and the ending very very rushed - but I found the performance by Thomas Judd to be excellent - much more subtle accents than usually provided which underlined a key plot-line - very well done indeed.

What other book might you compare The Watchmaker of Filigree Street to, and why?

The premise is a bit science-fiction, but because of the West to Japanese cultural exploration, the 1000 Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

I liked the relationship between Grace Carrow and Matsumoto, particularly the early scenes in Oxford.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The sadness of Grace when she realised her hopes and dreams may get dashed.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street?

the octopus Katsu

What does Thomas Judd bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

his voice was like warm honey

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I felt as if I was actually there

Any additional comments?

this was a beautiful book, no spoilers but I never realised what it was about until what happened happened. She wrote about male relationships in a way that made me think she was a male.....no disrespect intended. She was a wise storyteller in a young persons body

I like a story that contains the unexpected and there was plenty of it in this story. There were points which felt like they were rushed for the sake of tying up plot lines, perhaps the results of editing down but they did not detract too much from a thoroughly enjoyable read.

I liked the narrator's handling of the material. His accents were nicely understated.

As soon as I finished it I went looking for another book by Natasha Pulley but unfortunately there are no more (hopefully in the future as this was her first book).This is an amazing book and I really enjoyed it. The story line kept my interest right through, and the ending was excellent. A suggestion to audible listeners - make sure you listen to the date at the beginning of the chapters - I missed a couple and got really confused and had to go back to the beginning of the chapter to listen for the date! I enjoyed Thomas Judd's reading as well. I thoroughly recommend this book if the summary appeals to you.

If you remember the future and control it through what appears to be serendipity, could you be trusted not to change every event to suit you?This is one of the many questions that arise from the peculiar world of Keita Mori and his creations, mechanical and otherwise. Thaniel Steepleton will become his best friend 1883 and his entire life will change through an act of terrorism, and a miracle of horology.This is a beautifully written book that is magical and atmospheric, with a thriller at its heart that for me detracted from the magic and atmosphere the character and the period created with so much depth.Natasha pulley is very good writer, and a creator of worlds that become real and palpable like the creations of Mr Mori.Entertaining brimming with fresh ideas and a confidence in the writing that compels you find out and stay in movements of this story.

A thoroughly enjoyable book, intelligently written, an absorbing listen. The narrator was excellent, although I thought took a couple of chapters to get into his stride, very good characterisation with dialects etc. A book that you think about both whilst it is playing and after you have finished listening..lots of layers, more complex than it seems on the surface. Excellent! I look forward to Natasha Pulley's next book..

There is so much going on in this book that it’s hard to isolate just a few things I liked. I’ll talk about a couple here, but there are so many great parts in this book.

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street sets a touching love story against a historic time of social and political unrest — Irish terrorists are bombing London in protest of British rule; women in England and other parts of the world are dissatisfied with their inability to vote and restricted independence; and Japan’s feudal and agrarian society is fighting a losing battle against the influence of Western culture and technology. After doing a little web surfing, I discovered that a lot of the history relayed in the book is accurate, including the bombings that are central to the story. I find historical fiction much more impressive when it can deliver a mostly-accurate history lesson at the same time it’s entertaining.

Another part of this story I appreciated was the subtle descriptions of what true love really looks like. In one part of the story, Mori encourages Thaniel, who has synesthesia, to draw and paint when he sees when he listens to music. Mori insists on hanging the drawings on the wall, even though Thaniel believes they are worthless. Mori describes Thaniel’s drawings as much more interesting than the paintings he just bought by that depressed Dutchmen (referring to, I’m assuming, Van Gogh).

In another part of the book, when Mori visits Grace and Thaniel’s new home, he is obviously unhappy that the music room is unfinished and there is no piano, though Grace’s laboratory in the basement is completely finished. Later, the reader learns that Mori sees Thaniel as a pianist while Grace sees him as an ordinary man who occasionally plays the piano. This makes a difference to Thaniel and affects his future choices. These are subtle parts of the story, but they say quite a lot about the relationships between the characters.

The narrator, Thomas Judd, did a great job with the voices. As I was listening, I didn’t think there was a lot of obvious variations in voice; but in hindsight, I never had any trouble distinguishing between characters. In particular, Thaniel’s, Mori’s, and Grace’s voices were perfect for their characters.

There is also the sock-stealing clockwork octopus, the cheeky workhouse orphan, the way clairvoyance is imagined, the wide range of diversity in the story, and the scientific cleverness displayed at the end. I can’t say more without giving too much away, but you’ll know what I mean when you read it. :)

This is just a fraction of what is so fascinating about The Watchmaker of Filigree Street. There are layers and layers of personal and social commentary in this book that, though presented in a historical setting, are so appropriate for today’s culture.

Really there isn’t much about this story I didn’t like. I only want to note that it is a slow, quiet story. For some people, slow and quiet stories can be hard to read and even harder to hear. Even though I thoroughly enjoyed this story, I found my attention wandering at times. But if you like the slow and quiet story, then give this book a try. It’s pretty impressive.

Copy provided by author/publisher in exchange for an honest review. Review courtesy of One Book Two book review blog.

29 of 30 people found this review helpful

Gloria

Florida

26/08/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"Steam punk multi-verse with Japanese flair"

The book starts off slowly and I found myself put it aside from time to time. But it gradually built to a great pace and narrative, with a surprising ending that was delightful and touching. Worth sticking through to the end.

14 of 15 people found this review helpful

Lorfet

Texas, United States

29/04/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"A Thinking Story"

I went back and re-read others' reviews to see what was liked and disliked about this book so that I could see how my review might stack up. I must say that I enjoyed the book and did not agree with most of the negatives listed by audible reviewers. I thought the story was fascinating and the ideas and suppositions that were generated within the story about pre-determination and whether one is able to change their destiny were fascinating.

I liked Mori and Thaniel a great deal; however, I did not find Grace to be a very charming or personable character. She was very distant and academic. She was obviously intelligent but her inability to connect with most people was disconcerting. She was openly hateful and dismissive to her own parents and acted very narcissistically. I am glad she had some measure of happiness at the end of the story, but I felt she still had a looooong way to go before redemption.

To the reviewer who was angry with the homosexual story line. I am sorry if you were put off by this, but it was handled exceedingly well and there were no over-the-top displays of affection to deal with or even a large part of the story that spoke of this. But it was very integral to the story and if you had not determined that this is where the story was heading, then I fear you were not paying a lot of attention in the first place.

One must listen closely to this story or you might miss small clues that will become important later in the book. I liked the way the story went back and forth in the timeline as a device to explain Mori.

Thomas Judd was AWESOME with the narration of this story. Bravo!

I would recommend this book as an awesome book when you are wanting to hear something intriguing and thought-provoking but not action-packed or vulgar. It was quite humorous at times and the descriptions of the clockwork items Mori designed were imaginative and made me wish for a clockwork Octopus. I will be watching for more from this author.

19 of 21 people found this review helpful

Joe Kraus

Kingston, PA, United States

02/03/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"Murakami without the Lightness, and with Confusion"

Any additional comments?

I probably needed to spend more time on this intriguing book. On the plus side, it reminds me a bit of Haruki Murakami’s work. It reminds me as well that, while Murakami makes that blend of magic, science, and self-discovery look easy, it’s actually very difficult to pull off.

In this one, we have a trio of central characters. Thaniel and Grace are Londoners with assorted family issues, and Mori is a master clockmaker (and more) with strange powers for influencing others.

At its best, the book raises striking questions about the nature of time and the capacity for an individual to make choices in a world that may be predetermined. The late touch that calls for a series of coin tosses as a means of escaping apparent predestination is really striking, both as a plot device and as a philosophical idea.

The uncertainty at the heart of those questions is hard-wired into the story, though, and a chief result is that the often out-of-sequence narrative calls for real care in reading it. I don’t mind having to work my way through a book, but this one has an odd habit of seeming to say, “You should have been paying closer attention a chapter ago when things seemed light-hearted or concerned with detail.” As someone reading it quickly, I kept missing those details, and I often found myself bewildered. If I’d realized the book was expecting me to read in such a different fashion, I might have been more taken with its striking irregular rhythms.

On the plus side, this held my interest even as I discovered there were huge parts I’d simply missed. Pulley has a capacity for strong detail to go along with the philosophical questions she raises, so I held on through my frequent confusion to see how it all wraps up.

I have to agree with others who have complained that the start is simply too slow. I’d add as well that I found the conclusion confusing, but that may well be my fault since I allowed my confusion to grow as fully as I did.

Bottom line: there seem to be real virtues here, but don’t underestimate it as you go in. It has the tone of a light read, but it demands your attention throughout. It’s a compliment to compare this to Murakami, but if it has some of the impressive weight of Murakami’s questions, it lacks the powerful lightness that Murakami manages to maintain through so much of what he does.

9 of 9 people found this review helpful

kayla.the.librarian

Benton, LA USA

22/09/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"Victorian Steampunk Mystery that Wasn't for Me"

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

I never really connected with the characters, but I detested the ones that I liked by the end. I liked Grace enough, but I was put off by some of her behavior toward the end of the book. I did NOT like Mori, though I can't really say way. Thaniel was too wishy-washy for my taste.

Would you ever listen to anything by Natasha Pulley again?

Just because The Watchmaker of Filigree Street did not work for me does not mean that I would avoid her writing in the future. This was her first novel, and I'm sure that her future work will only improve.

What about Thomas Judd’s performance did you like?

Thomas Judd did a great job of keeping all of the characters from different cultures distinct. He was able to mimic other accents without making them cartoonish.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

The book started off swimmingly, but it started to drag with the flashbacks (which didn't translate to audio very well). I loved the descriptions of all the locations, and Katsu, the clockwork octopus, was adorable.

Any additional comments?

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street reminded me of The Night Circus, and I think TNC's fans would really enjoy this book.

10 of 12 people found this review helpful

virginia

United States

02/11/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"Wildly Creative and well written"

What made the experience of listening to The Watchmaker of Filigree Street the most enjoyable?

It's creative story telling and imaginative and inventive sense of time and space and mixof cultures. The addition of Gilbert and Sullivan into the plot, as I am a big fan of G&S.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

My criticism is not of the ending but of the authors view of women. I don't thinkhe trusts women to be straight forward and compassionate. I was a bit disappointedin his treatment of the female character.

Which scene was your favorite?

Many scenes were colorful and magical. It is hard to pick one scene, but the developmentof plot was engaging

If you could rename The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, what would you call it?

I like the name

Any additional comments?

Alternate realities and relative time create intriguing themes.

4 of 6 people found this review helpful

Rin-Rin

02/05/17

Overall

Performance

Story

"この本はとても面白いと楽しいです。"

I enjoyed this book, though, it annoyed me a bit that the voice actor's Japanese pronunciations wasn't up to par. Otherwise I liked his voice.

The plot and the characters are interesting and I enjoyed the "surprise" shounen ai. (I had read reviews before purchase) I'm pleased with this book and now also own it in paper which I'm going to force my friends to read. ╰(*'︶`*)╯♡

1 of 2 people found this review helpful

Amazon Customer

United States

01/12/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"ok"

somewhat hard to follow sometimes in the story . Things would change and you would think what happened. Did I miss something

3 of 5 people found this review helpful

E.F. Johnson

San Juan Capistrano, CA, US

09/11/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"Some books are just more fun to read"

The story was intriguing and I liked the performance, however I would prefer to read this one as there were several moments when I wished I had had the text to revert back to. I had a hard time following the various characters and I am certain I lost a bit of the impact. It is an intricate story and I would suggest listening when you have the ability to give it your full focus.

1 of 2 people found this review helpful

Too Happy

20/08/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"The narration is as good as the book."

Or is it the other way around. Couldn't have known the ending. Took quite a turn. Had to reverse it. Very few books hide the ending from me.

1 of 2 people found this review helpful

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